Special Features

5. Black Friday 1869

Wikipedia

Sometimes it isn’t the government that’s to blame for back door deals. Back in 1869, two wily financiers, Jay Gould and James Fisk, thought they could outsmart the government and corner the gold market, but were foiled by the administration. Gould and Fisk tried to buy massive amounts of gold at a low price and then sell high using insider information. President Grant caught on to the scheme thanks to a suspicious letter and a tip from his secretary, who was asked if he wanted in on the scheme. Grant tried to raise the price of gold fast while Gould quickly tried to sell. The result was a major crash in the market and in the end, Gould and Fisk got away without prison time thanks to a couple of world-class lawyers.